The sense of inevitability crept into Woodward Oval as quietly as the growing number of dot balls: Another week, another batting struggle and another loss for a Cowra representative side, this time in the Grinsted Cup, against Parkes.
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Chasing 9-169, the visitors were unable to put together a meaningful batting stand, with only skipper Mick Curtale’s unbeaten 65 demonstrating a clear sense of technique and nous as they were eventually dismissed all out for 131.
The loss marked Cowra’s third straight loss in Sunday cricket, after a rout against Dubbo and closely fought contest against Bathurst, both of which occurred in the Western Zone competition.
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Sent into the field, Cowra gave themselves every positive chance of winning, fighting back from a 71-run opening stand between Myles Smith and Peter Yelland to have Parkes in the lurch at 9-133, with Josh Carmody the pick of the bowlers with figures of 7-65.
Emerson Baratto, a surprise debutant, given he has mostly played second grade cricket to date this season, also fit into the level, taking 2-14 from six overs on debut.
While Parkes’ Brent Tucker and Jack Barker rallied to put up a modest but defendable 169, Cowra’s work in the field created a rare opportunity to pursue runs on a pitch described by middle-order batsmen Ben Houghton as a “road” prior to lunch.
However, questions remained about Cowra’s batting ability, and as the second session commenced, the nature of those questions quickly became less about whether Cowra could chase down the total and more about how long they could hold on before coughing up another wicket to Parkes’ relentless pressure.
Batsmen with solid techniques were either beaten by the ball – Jacob McNaught was clean bowled on 10, Scott Wilson edged a ball to slip for a duck – or alternately, as in Brendan Traves’ case, they defended until they lost patience, cutting a high ball taken in the gully.
Even in the semi-successful partnerships, such as Traves and Curtale’s 40 run stand for the third wicket, too often twos and threes became ones and twos, a lack of fitness slowing the ability of Cowra’s best performing batsmen to turn the strike over.
While it would be amiss to ignore the forceful discipline of Parkes’ bowlers – Brent Tucker took 7-41, while Blake and Myles Smith contributed five maidens to go with their respective 2-14 and 1-26 – and their ability to consistently bowl to a wicket-taking line and length, the regularity of Cowra’s batting trouble deserves deeper scrutiny as the end of the season approaches.
The narrative put forward by Cowra’s cricketing leadership this year has emphasised the move to a younger playing squad, partially explaining Cowra’s inconsistent batting.
However, selection is often availability-driven, with several experienced players getting representative berths despite poor form as the usual reasons – family, work, long days in the heat – interfere with picking the best possible team.
None of this reflects on the area’s cricket organisers nor on those selected; reality can intrude on the best laid plans, and alternative players aren’t knocking the door down for a spot.
Regardless, results have shown that Cowra is caught between two poles: It beats the Grenfells and Youngs of the region, but struggles to compete against Parkes, let alone Dubbo.
While it has always competed, as shown in the tie against Orange before Christmas, it is going to need to time build a batting line up to match its bowling.
Having lost the Grinsted Cup and facing the strong prospect of a Parkes team winning the Lachlan Premier League, Cowra is neither here nor there at season’s end.
We’ll see where it sits again in eight months’ time.
